Your laptop is stolen
Your laptop is stolen from your bag on the bus. It holds all your coursework. Is the work lost?
It is not, if you have a backup. A backup is a copy of your data, kept in another place. Businesses go further. They also plan how to get the whole system working again after a disaster.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Backup | A copy of data kept in another place, in case the first copy is lost. | A copy on a cloud drive |
| Restore | Putting data back from a backup. | Getting a deleted file back |
| Onsite | Kept in the same building as the original. | A backup disk in the office |
| Offsite | Kept in a different place, far from the original. | A copy in another city |
| Cloud backup | A copy stored on a provider's servers over the internet. | An online backup service |
| Hot site | A spare site with everything ready and up to date. It can take over at once. | A mirror of the data centre |
| Warm site | A spare site with equipment ready, but data must be restored first. | Ready by tomorrow |
| Cold site | An empty space with power and a network link. Equipment must be brought in. | A room, ready in days |
| Procedure | A list of steps to follow to get a job done. | Steps to restore the files |
| SOP | Standard operating procedure. Written steps that staff follow for a task. | How to restore the files |
| Network | Computers joined together to share data. | The college network |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Three places to keep backups
| Onsite | Offsite | Cloud | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restore speed | Fast | Slower | Depends on the internet speed |
| Safe from fire or flood at your site? | No | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | Buy the equipment | Buy equipment and pay for transport or space | Pay as you go |
| Main risk | Lost with the original | Lost or stolen in transit | Depends on the provider and the link |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Quick check: backups
Have a go
Quick check: backups
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Extra: The 3-2-1 rule
data-callouts.tip.label
Keep 3 copies of your data. The original counts as one. Use 2 different kinds of storage. Keep 1 copy offsite. Then no single accident can destroy all your copies.
Extra: Make a file to protect
echo "my coursework" > homework.txtA command for the lesson’s lab terminal. It is shown here and not run.
Extra: Back it up
tar -czf backup.tar.gz homework.txtA command for the lesson’s lab terminal. It is shown here and not run.
Extra: Look inside the backup
tar -tzf backup.tar.gzA command for the lesson’s lab terminal. It is shown here and not run.